James
James is a red mixed-traffic L&YR Class 28 engine who can sometimes be vain and boastful. All the same, he means well and is a hard worker. Bio According to The Adventure Begins, James arrived on Sodor some time after Gordon, at which time he was painted black. His wooden brakes were prone to catching fire and he had trouble stopping quickly; if anyone noticed a burning smell from his brakes, he would deny smelling anything out of the ordinary. James originally owned Annie and Clarabel, and believed The Fat Controller would soon give him his own branch line. James acted as a bully towards Thomas when the tank engine first arrived, but soon after gained some respect for him. They became close friends following James' accident. Some Troublesome Trucks made his wooden brakes catch fire, prompting Thomas to chase after him. James' guard attempted to couple Thomas to the back of the train to slow James down, but as this failed, James could not stop and came off the rails at a bend, scratching his paintwork and destroying most of his trucks. Thomas fetched Jerome and Judy, who lifted James back onto the rails. Thomas then took James to the Steamworks for repairs. When James returned as a splendid red engine, Thomas and Edward did not recognize him. Upon declaring he was ready for his coaches, James realized that his coaches were now Thomas', and the little tank engine now had his own branch line. James has had several mishaps, most of them caused by his pride of his paintwork. While using Toad as a brakevan on a mainline goods train, he refused to slow down. When a coupler snapped, his train rolled down Gordon's Hill uncontrollably. Toad was able to stop the train before colliding with Thomas, who was pulling a special train with Sir Topham Hatt and his mother. Another incident occurred during a flood in the winter, when James and Rocky inadvertently knocked down a signal. When they stopped to rescue Duck from a flooded track, Oliver was unaware that the track was occupied. He saw them at the last minute, but it was too late to avoid a collision. Immediately afterwards, Percy came around the bend and ran into Oliver. James owned up to Sir Topham Hatt, admitting he should have waited for Rocky to be secured properly before leaving. In Tale of the Brave, James teases Percy for being afraid of monsters. One night, he gets asked to pull The Flying Kipper since Henry is on the mainland. As he is pulling the train, he hears a voice saying hello to him. It is Gator, but James cannot see his face in the dark. James gets scared by his unusual shape and races away, and ends up derailing at the Fenland track. The other engines tease him about his accident, so James decides to play a trick on Percy so he will be teased instead. That night, when Percy is taking the mail, James uses the scrap monster to scare Percy. The next day, he tries to apologize to Percy, but Percy will not forgive him. The two engines later meet at the Clay Pits, and James decides to show Percy how brave he can be. He puffs into the pits looking for the monster, not noticing his whistle is shaking the cliffs. He sees a dinosaur skeleton sticking out of the cliff wall, and races backward as fast as he can. But his whistling has started a landslide, so Percy pushes him forward and they race to safety. Once Percy has been repaired, James apologizes for teasing him. In "Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure", James teases Thomas for not waking up after having race against Bertie and Henry for thinking he saw a ghostly sailboat before Salty tells him, along with Edward and Henry, about a "lost pirate". In the nineteenth season, he and Gordon had heard about "Geoffrey". James and Thomas were to work together to take football fans to and from Dryaw, but ended up causing trouble because they were trying to see whether reds or blues are best. James later came off the rails near a stone bridge and Philip rescued him by positioning himself underneath James. Persona James is very proud of his splendid red paintwork. He hates pulling trucks, and believes that he should only pull coaches. He thinks himself superior to the others, and can be shallow, boastful, naughty, and vain, particularly to those who appear old-fashioned, weak, slow, or dirty. This has caused him to have somewhat of a rivalry with Toby. However, on a number of occasions, he has found himself in need of help from those whom he has insulted and is, in the end, apologetic. James was the last engine to retain a prejudice against diesels. However, after stalling on a cold day, he was rescued by the Works Diesel, and James had to admit that nothing was wrong with diesels. This appears to be one of the few lessons that has stuck. Despite everything else, James has shown a caring side, is normally hard-working, and like everybody else, wants to be a responsible, reliable and really useful engine on Sir Topham Hatt's railway. Basis In The Island of Sodor: Its People, History and Railways, it is stated that James is based on a Class 28 locomotive from the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Works, itself a development of the Class 27. The Class 28 engines were designed by George Hughes, and had Belpaire fireboxes, a Schmidt superheater, and an extended footplate and sandbox. Sodor "historian" Martin Clutterbuck has pointed out that James strongly resembles an G&SWR "Austrian Goods" 2-6-0 from the Glasgow and South Western Railway, but with the addition of a Belpaire firebox. At any rate, the Reverend W. Awdry used an engine of this class to represent James on his model railway. It is possible that he rejected this prototype for James' official "biography" on the grounds that an English locomotive would be more likely to end up on Sodor. Livery James was originally painted in L&YR's mixed traffic black with red lining before his accident and was given his red coat with yellow stripes and black lining to cheer him up. Sometime during the 1960s, James' black lining was repainted blue and gold. James has the number "5" painted in bright yellow with a blue border on his tender sides. In the television series, James has always been painted NWR red with gold stripes and black lining, with three exceptions: in the tenth season episode The Green Controller, when he was painted yellow and black, like a bumblebee, on Percy's orders. Then, in the thirteenth season episode, Tickled Pink, James was painted in a pink undercoat. Though he was painted red in his official debut episode, he was painted in his black livery from the Railway Series in The Adventure Begins and had lining on the back of his tender. This disappeared when he was given his red livery. In the Railway Series, he carries two builder's plates on the sides of his cab. Appearances * Season 12 - Thomas and the Billboard, Heave Ho Thomas! (cameo), James Works it Out, Tram Trouble (cameo), and Percy and the Bandstand (cameo) * Season 13 - Creaky Cranky, The Lion of Sodor, Tickled Pink, Double Trouble (cameo), Slippy Sodor,The Early Bird, Play Time , Thomas and the Pigs, Percy's Parcel, Toby's New Whistle,A Blooming Mess, Thomas and the Runaway Kite , Steamy Sodor, Splish, Splash, Splosh!,The Biggest Present of All , Snow Tracks (cameo), Henry's Good Deeds (cameo),Buzzy Bees (cameo), and Hiro Helps Out (cameo) * Season 14 - Thomas' Tall Friend (cameo), James in the Dark, Pingy Pongy Pick Up, Charlie and Eddie(cameo), Toby and the Whistling Woods, Henry's Health and Safety (cameo), Diesel's Special Delivery,Pop Goes Thomas, Being Percy, Merry Winter Wish, Thomas and the Snowman Party, Thomas' Crazy Day (cameo), Jumping Jobi Wood!, Thomas and Scruff (cameo), O the Indignity, Jitters and Japes(cameo), and Henry's Magic Box * Season 15 - Gordon and Ferdinand (cameo), Edward the Hero (cameo), James to the Rescue, Happy Hiro (cameo), Up, Up and Away! (cameo), Henry's Happy Coal (cameo), Let it Snow (cameo), Surprise, Surprise (cameo), Spencer the Grand (cameo), Stuck on You, Kevin the Steamie (cameo), Wonky Whistle (cameo), Percy the Snowman (cameo), Tree Trouble (cameo), and Fiery Flynn (cameo) * Season 16 - Race to the Rescue (cameo), Express Coming Through (cameo), Percy and the Monster of Brendam (cameo), Flash Bang Wallop!, Thomas and the Rubbish Train (cameo), Thomas Toots the Crows (cameo), Bust My Buffers! (cameo), Percy and the Calliope (cameo), Thomas and the Sounds of Sodor, Salty's Surprise (cameo), Sodor Surprise Day (cameo), Muddy Matters, Whiff's Wish , and Happy Birthday Sir! (cameo) * Season 17 - Kevin's Cranky Friend (cameo), Scruff's Makeover, Wayward Winston (cameo), Gordon Runs Dry, Calm Down Caitlin (cameo), Steamie Stafford (cameo), The Lost Puff (cameo), The Thomas Way (cameo), The Phantom Express, Too Many Fire Engines (cameo), The Missing Christmas Decorations, The Frozen Turntable, The Afternoon Tea Express , The Smelly Kipper, and Thomas' Shortcut (cameo) * Season 18 - Old Reliable Edward, Flatbeds of Fear (cameo), Disappearing Diesels (cameo), Signals Crossed, Toad's Adventure, Duck in the Water, Duck and the Slip Coaches, Thomas and the Emergency Cable (cameo), Duncan and the Grumpy Passenger (cameo), Spencer's VIP, Toad's Bright Idea, Last Train for Christmas, Duncan the Humbug (cameo), The Perfect Gift (cameo), Emily Saves the World, Timothy and the Rainbow Truck (cameo), and Samson at Your Service * Season 19 - Who's Geoffrey?, The Truth About Toby, Lost Property (cameo), Henry Spots Trouble,Toad and the Whale (cameo), The Beast of Sodor, Diesel's Ghostly Christmas (cameo), Very Important Sheep (cameo), Salty All at Sea, Helping Hiro (cameo), Reds vs. Blues, Slow Stephen, Best Engine Ever, The Little Engine Who Raced Ahead, Philip to the Rescue, The Other Side of the Mountain (cameo), Rocky Rescue (cameo), and Goodbye Fat Controller * Season 20 - Toby's New Friend (cameo), Henry Gets the Express, Diesel and the Ducklings, Bradford the Brake Van, Pouty James, Letters to Santa (cameo), The Christmas Cofeepot (cameo), Over the Hill, Henry in the Dark, Three Steam Engines Gruff, Engine of the Future, All in Vain, and Tit for Tat * Season 21 - Dowager Hatt's Busy Day, Stuck in Gear (cameo), P.A. Problems (cameo), Hasty Hannah, Cranky at the End of the Line (cameo), Philip's Number, The Fastest Red Engine on Sodor, A Shed for Edward, Emily in the Middle, The Big Freeze, and Little Engines Specials: * Hero of the Rails * Misty Island Rescue * Day of the Diesels * Blue Mountain Mystery * King of the Railway * Tale of the Brave * The Adventure Begins * Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure * The Great Race * Journey Beyond Sodor * Big World! Big Adventures! Voice Actors * Keith Wickham (UK; Hero of the Rails onwards) * Kerry Shale (US; Hero of the Rails - eighteenth season) * Rob Rackstraw (US; The Adventure Begins onwards) * Katsuji Mori (Japan; Pop goes Thomas) * Masashi Ebara (Japan; Pop goes Thomas) * Helge Winther Larsen (Norway; Hero of the Rails onwards) * Mario Castañeda (Latin America; Hero of the Rails onwards) * Tobias Schmidt (Germany; Hero of the Rails onwards excluding Day of the Diesels) * Waldemar Barwiński (Poland; Hero of the Rails onwards) * Lucas Gama (Brazil; seventeenth season onwards) * Ulisses Bezerra (Brazil; Tale of the Brave only) Trivia * In the My First Thomas books and toys, James' wheels are red instead of black. Just the My First Thomas toys of James have a black bufferbeam/footplate instead of his usual red one. * A large-scale working replica of James, along with replicas of Thomas, Percy, Harold, and Jack, was created by BBC Visual Effects for a tour in 2003. The battery powered locomotive is listed in the 2004 Guinness Book of Records as the largest model railway engine ever built, at 2.64 x 1.5 x 6.52 metres. * In Toby's New Whistle, James revealed that he once had a three-chimed whistle. * Michael Angelis originally voiced James in Thomas and the Magic Railroad, but he was cut from the movie and was replaced by Susan Roman. * James has undergone numerous modifications through the television series, including: ** Season 3: *** His brake pipe now faces downwards. ** Season 4: *** His whistle sound changed to a higher-pitched version of Duck's. ** Season 5: *** His whistle changed back to how it originally sounded. *** His brake pipe now faces upwards. ** Thomas and the Magic Railroad: *** His bufferbeam rivets were removed. *** His brake pipe now faces downwards again. ** Season 6: *** His safety valve disappeared. ** Hero of the Rails: *** He increased in size, making the top of his boiler the same height as Gordon's. His cab, funnel, and tender were also scaled up accordingly. ** Season 17: *** He gained lamps on his front and tender, as requested by Sam Wilkinson. ** The Adventure Begins: *** External brake shoes with wooden blocks were added on his rear driving wheels. Following his accident, he still had his brake shoes, but the wood blocks were replaced. *** His brake pipe now faces upwards again. *** His side-rods become silver. * In the Railway Series and television series combined, James has been painted more colours than any other engine. * In the twelfth season, James was missing his signature crow's feet. * One of James' models is currently on display in Japan at the Hara Railway Museum (previously on display at Nitrogen Studios). * In an interview with SiF, Andrew Brenner stated James was one of his favourite characters, along with Toby, Bill, and Ben. * One of James' television series models was sold to an unknown buyer. * In the Annual Story Donald's Duck, James was incorrectly depicted as an LMS Fowler 4F 0-6-0. * In the book Thomas' Christmas Party, James in one picture was incorrectly depicted as a 4-4-0. * Nathan Clarke did an audio sample for James on his DAA Management Page * James Gallery JamesWorksItOut10.png JamesWorksItOut38.png|James with a CGI face HeroOfTheRails47.png|James in full CGI CreakyCranky37.png|James in the thirteenth season TickledPink31.png|James in his pink undercoat Percy'sParcel40.png|James at the washdown Thomas,PercyandJamesCGIpromo.png Category:Steam locomotives Category:Tender Engines Category:Boy Category:2-6-0 Category:The Main Line Category:North Western Railway Category:Steam Team Category:Male Engines Category:Red Engines